Sea warning for Typhoon Noul lifted

Taipei, July 25 (CNA) The Central Weather Administration (CWA) lifted its sea warning for Typhoon Noul at 8:30 a.m. Saturday as the storm continued to move away from Taiwan.

As of 8 a.m., the center of Noul was located about 330 kilometers west-southwest of Cape Eluanbi, Taiwan's southernmost point, moving northwest at about 19 kilometers per hour, according to the CWA. The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 119 kph and had a radius of 180 km, the CWA said.

The CWA added Noul was moving toward China's Guangdong Province.

Despite lifting the sea warning, which had been in effect since late Thursday night, the CWA said Noul's outer bands were expected to continue affecting Taiwan, bringing heavy rainfall to parts of southern and eastern Taiwan.

Extremely heavy rain or heavy rain advisories have been issued for the mountainous areas of Pingtung County, the Hengchun Peninsula and Taitung County, while heavy rain alerts have become effective in Pingtung County, Hualien County, Orchid Island and Green Island.

According to the CWA, an extremely heavy rain advisory indicates accumulated rainfall of more than 200 millimeters within 24 hours or more than 100 mm within three hours. A heavy rain advisory is issued when accumulated rainfall is expected to exceed 80 mm within 24 hours or 40 mm within one hour.

The CWA said the heavy rain advisories were expected to remain in effect through late Saturday afternoon.

In addition to heavy rain, strong winds associated with the storm were forecast to affect Taiwan's coastal areas, the CWA said, urging the public to remain alert.

(By Huan Chiao-wen and Frances Huang)

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